Mass. \u2014 When it comes to the economy today, many Americans feel like they\u2019re falling further and further behind.<\/p>\n
This feeling is growing despite the stock market hitting record highs and a relatively stable job market.<\/p>\n
So why this sentiment that things aren\u2019t \u201cOK\u201d these days?<\/p>\n
You can blame it on something called the \u201cK\u201d economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe K economy is where two things exist at the same time. So, we have the K, and the upper arm is one population that is doing well, and we have the lower leg, so to speak, going downward and they\u2019re not doing so well,\u201d explained Dr. Bertie Greer, Ph.D., Dean of the Manning School of Business at UMass Lowell.<\/p>\n
She says much of this trend is tied to Wall Street.<\/p>\n
In 2025, the S&P 500 was up 16.4% while the tech heavy Nasdaq climbed 20.4%.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the stock market is not an indicator of the economy,\u201d said Greer. \u201cThe stock market and its success is an indicator for investors, people who have stocks, corporations, businesses, real estate, and usually you\u2019re in a higher income population.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boston 25 News asked people at the Natick rest plaza on the Mass Pike their feelings about the K economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rich are getting richer nowadays and the middle class people are staying on the same straight line. They\u2019re not getting more money,\u201d said one man.<\/p>\n
Another added, \u201cI think things are not as bad as people think.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third said, \u201cI think there\u2019s a dual reality of what\u2019s going on, because people who are economically more secure are actually doing A-OK, but people that are a little bit tighter, I think inflation is a very really thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The increased wealth of the upper classes has coincided with persistent inflation which is felt more harshly by those people a few rungs down on the income ladder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been a hollowing out of the middle class in the sense of what\u2019s been the number one complaint about the state of the US economy and continues to be the case even as we speak is essentially affordability issues,\u201d said Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst and Washinton D.C bureau chief for www.bankrate.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also see, essentially the economic division driving the political divide, and we know that politically speaking, we do well when America\u2019s middle class is robust. And essentially more people meet in the middle than are sort of lobbing grenades from the sidelines, but that\u2019s where we are today\u201d<\/p>\n Jerone Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, is concerned about a society with a stark economic divide, saying \u201cHow sustainable it is, I don\u2019t know\u201d last December.<\/p>\n On a personal level, Hamrick says the state of today\u2019s world requires everyone to make their financial well-being a priority \u2013 both to get ahead — or at least hold their ground. <\/p>\n \u201cHow to get there is to live beneath your means, not to live on the cutting edge so to speak, where you\u2019re just getting by, and we\u2019re essentially spending first and saving later. We need to save first and spend second so that we are paying ourselves first thru our savings plans.\u201d<\/p>\n With the threat of A.I taking jobs, and the price of housing increasingly out of reach, it can be hard to be positive about the economy.<\/p>\n But we found one optimistic man at that rest stop.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery economy has its ups and downs, so you can\u2019t expect everything to be up all the time,\u201d he told us. \u201cBecause what I know about America is, when you work hard, you get the money. If you don\u2019t work, you\u2019ll never get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Greer said she will also be watching how A-I affects the workforce.<\/p>\n She says lower income workers are often the first to feel the consequences of a big shift in the labor market.<\/p>\n This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. <\/p>\n Download the <\/b>FREE Boston 25 News app<\/b><\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/b><\/p>\n Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n